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Local Sips: Tasting Texas Pinot Noir (and more) at Red Dirt Cellars (Grapevine, TX)
They say you can’t grow Pinot Noir in Texas…but Texans are a feisty bunch who don’t hearken to the word “can’t.” That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Pinot Noir, as a rule, likes a long, consistent growing season and a cool to moderate climate. Those are two things we definitely don’t have here, where summer temperatures…
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Champagne Laurent-Perrier tasting at Pogo’s Wine & Spirits (Dallas, TX)
I used to credit most of Champagne’s popularity to marketing glitz. It’s all about the image, right? I guzzled cheap Cava and grocery-store Crémant, feeling smug and wise. But I was wrong. Good Champagne, alas, occupies its own tier of deliciousness among sparkling wines. The bubbles are finer, the texture richer, the flavors brighter and…
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Costco Advent Calendar Wine #14: Solo Reflections Chardonnay (Australia)
Another day, another Chardonnay! I’m busting out my best stemless glassware for a casual pour from Down Under, the 2025 Costco Wine Advent-ure Calendar‘s wine #14: Solo Reflections Chardonnay. It’s well-chilled–and I’m ready to be well-chilled, too. Costco wine can help with that. No thinking, just drinking. But is Solo Reflections a wine that likes…
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Review: Colomé Estate Torrontés Calchaqui Valley (2024)
Not so very long ago, Argentina’s Calchaqui Valley could lay claim to the tallest vineyards in the world. Clinging to the eastern slopes of the Andes, these sites have allowed Argentina to create a unique industry around its high-altitude Malbec and Torrontés. But in 2012–and officially verified by Guinness in 2018–Argentina ceded the “highest vineyard”…
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Costco Advent Calendar Wine #13: Latitude 44 Pinot Noir (France)
A savage wine review is a delightful thing. I run across them most often on Reddit. Usually it’s written by someone who doesn’t like wine very much–and often, by someone who has resorted to drinking wine after running out of hard liquor. “Chewed raisins,” “prison toilet hooch,” “liquid vanilla candle.” (Or my new favorite natural…
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Merlot Thursday: Bogle Family Vineyards California Merlot (2022)
Another #MerlotThursday is upon us…and dang it if I’m not behind on my Merlot tasting. The Wine Fairy is headed to a Hungarian wine class later this afternoon, where there will almost certainly not be any Merlot to write about. The hours are ticking down, and it seems the only option is to run out…
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Cheval des Andes tasting at Blind Bishop (Dallas, TX)
Malbec’s story is possibly the most poetic of all the grapes. From royal darling in the court of Eleanor of Aquitane, to trans-Atlantic pilgrim, to purple-hued hero of by-the-glass lists everywhere, this is a variety that has survived and thrived across centuries. France lost most of its Malbec plantings, first to phylloxera and then to…
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Wines of the Southern Rhône with Gabriel Meffre
The Rhône Valley came to visit Texas with a tasting of seven different appellations from Gabriel Meffre! From a delicate white Côtes du Rhône to a substantial Châteauneuf, these recent-vintage wines showed the range and drinkability of one of France’s most important regions. The class was hosted by Total Wine, which is the exclusive US…
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Merlot Thursday: Goose Ridge “g3” Columbia Valley Merlot (2021)
Happy #MerlotThursday, wherever you happen to be imbibing! The Wine Fairy is at home, where I’m about to take a gander (sorry) at today’s wine, the “g3” Merlot from Goose Ridge Estate Vineyard. With 1800 acres under vine, Goose Ridge is the largest contiguous estate vineyard in Washington state. It sits between the Horse Heaven…
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Costco Advent Calendar Wine #11: Baciato dal Sol Red Blend (Italy)
“What’s the house wine?” you ask, glancing over the menu. “It’s red or white,” the server replies. And if, despite your trepidation, you go ahead and order the red wine, you’re likely to end up with a glass a lot like this one, the Baciato dal Sol from Costco. It’s the epitome of mystery red…
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Stressed Vines tasting at The Wine Authority (Richardson, TX)
The best wines are pressed from grapes that are stressed. That’s the philosophy behind Stressed Vines, a boutique winery that specializes in vine-bothering. These are all wines that have been though a little bit of heck on their way from field to bottle–small-production wines from some of California’s best old-vine, dry-farmed, and high-elevation vineyards. The…
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Review: Famille Hugel Gentil Alsace Blanc (2021)
Tonight’s wine is one of life’s most simple and accessible pleasures: A classic white blend from Alsace. This skinny green bottle smells and tastes amazing, costs little, and pairs with almost anything. I’ll go so far as to say that if you don’t like this style, there’s something wrong with you. I’m at Lavendou Bistro…